The sedimentary environment of Early Cretaceous dinosaur tracks in Longzhou Danxia Landform of Jingbian County, Shaanxi Province

During the extensive survey on Longzhou Danxia Landform in Jingbian County of Northern Shaanxi in July 2019, Shaanxi Institute of Geological Survey found several dinosaur track sites in the purple sandstone of Early Cretaceous Luohe Formation.The dinosaur track-bearing formation belongs to a typical red arsenic sandstone of desert facies, which is mainly composed of purplish red to dark purplish red medium to coarse grained feldspathic quartz sandstone, and quartz sandstone intercalated with grayish yellow-pale purple red massive silty mudstone and argillaceous stone, constituting the typical Danxia Landform scene.Altogether 9 dinosaur trackway sites were identified.Based on the comparison of morphological features and the field survey, it can be inferred that the dinosaur trackmakers were theropod.Based on the research on the sequence of around this area, it can be inferred that these dinosaur tracks were preserved near the shoreside of a desert lake.The dinosaur tracks found in Jingbian are distinctly different from those found in Zhongji Town, Shenmu City in 2017 and can provide rare research materials for the dinosaur research in the Ordos Basin.Moreover, the dinosaur track-bearing formation is less well studied, thus the study of the dinosaur tracks will contribute greatly to ascertaining the stratigraphic age and reconstructing the paleoenvironment.